Our channel, TwentyFourSevenMarriage, offers hope that people can get married and stay married, despite social stigmas against it. We’re “making marriage popular again!”

We’d like to hear your thoughts on marriage. Is it important? Why do more people seem to live together rather than “take the plunge” and commit to vows?

A young person recently stated, “I don’t want to get married because my parents got divorced and it might happen to me.”

That’s true. Life is unpredictable. Divorce is painful (trust me, I’ve been there!)

CHECK OUT THIS CHECKER

Cashier Sommer* loudly proclaims to the customer in front of me that she will NEVER get married. Sommer appears to be 14½ months pregnant, according to her bulbous belly button poking through the fabric of her smock. Why do minimum wage employees wear “smocks” when the same thing would simply be referred to as an ugly vest that doesn’t fit well anywhere else?

Oh, yeah. Nobody would be caught DEAD in one of those ugly vest smock thingys anywhere else outside a menial job…

O.K. I know what you’re thinking, why did the customer assume Sommer girl was married?

Clarification: Customer is a 133-year-old grandma with a tight white bun atop her shriveled prune head. Her dress is choking her throat and extends well beyond her abundant backside to the floor. O.K. I lied, she’s maybe 132, tops…

Sommer: (Face contorting in a bratty “I was born in 1999 so I know everything” manner: ) I’m not married. I’m still in high school.

Customer: Oh, my goodness.

Sommer: I’m never gonna get married. My parents are divorced, my grandparents are divorced, my aunt and uncle never got married, but they have seven kids and they hate each other, my next door neighbor’s second cousin got divorced thirteen times…

Customer: I’d like that in paper please.

Sommer: Huh?

Customer: Paper bag my items, please.

Sommer: We haven’t had paper bags around… ever.

Customer: You had them when I was here last.

Sommer: When was that?

Customer: 1967, I believe it was Kroger’s back then.

MY TURN

Young people (and older ones, too) often get marriage tangled up in the drama they’ve seen around them relating to marriage. We want young people to find the right mindset for pursuing a life marriage partner and not get mumbo jumboed by the relational rubbish being puked out around them.

Persevere, youngsters! Help is on the way!

Here are some tips to making marriage last:

BE PURE. Yes, I said pure meaning sexually pure before marriage. No hanky-panky or play involving body parts that should be covered up in public. Being pure makes your mind pure and ready for the real thing on wedding night. Two virgins in love have the best chance for the best sex. They learn together and grow to meet one another’s needs together without the baggage of slutty memories.

BE HONEST. Yep. Be totally honest. How many children do you want? What is your faith? What is your money handling strategy? What are your job and income aspirations and goals? What is your family like? People with family issues tend to carry them into their relationships. Don’t be a fool and think you can “fix” a broken person no matter how attractive they seem! If you have dirty secrets, share them and work on them. Don’t lie about porn use, illegal or legal bad habits, etc. Get help and then pursue a relationship.

BE PATIENT. Wait for the right person. They will come along when you are least expecting it. Don’t go on social media looking for love. It’s a scam. Some of you found love that way, and I get it, but for the most part, shut up!

YOUR TURN

Do you have other remedies for a long lasting marriage? Comment and share and spread the good news, we’re making marriage popular again!

John Cockroft is happily married. He was married for 18 years to his first wife, who left him. Since then, he has realized a few things he needed to change. He is so honest with his new wife (he wasn’t with his first) that she sometimes hits him playfully in disgust!

One more bit of friendly, self-righteous advice to those afraid of marriage because they might get divorced: Don’t drive or ride in a car. You might get into an accident!

It’s a 21st century thing to be hip, trendy, current, tolerant, and inclusive, especially on state funded college campuses. That’s what made me gasp when I read that Missouri State University is smiling over it’s recent invasion of privacy geared towards female students, staff and visitors to campus! Huh?

Is this some conservative, back to the ’50s rubbish by some right wing big-haired out of touch religious nut jobs? Nope! Liberal, open-minded thinkersare the perpetrators!

Yep. Good ol’ MSU Presidente Clif Smart… one smart guy… (sorry, couldn’t resist) decided it was socially relevant and ultra tolerant to take out the urinals in the men’s room and turn it into a women’s room on the fourth floor of the Plaster Student Union.

So, where do the men go when they gotta go? Wait for it…it gets better (or worse?)

Smarty Pants put TWO women’s restrooms up there. And, well, he’s letting men do their business in BOTH restrooms. In this enlightened, tolerant age, WOMEN are once again the subject of discrimination… early 20th century calling…I hear you loud and clear…

Well, I had to go see this blatant anti-female discrimination for myself. I went up there and snapped this picture on my phone:

Multi-Stall? Really? Ya think? How many public (non-family) restrooms are multi-stall? Hmm. Oh, yeah. All of ’em, Sherlock!

(See the official news report below where President Smart equates family bathrooms (with a lock) to gender unspecified bathrooms without a lock… BIG difference!)

I didn’t stop at the door. I went in, gamely, a man of the world, born in the 1960s, ready for… what? I don’t know what I expected. Maybe floor to ceiling stalls with sound proof (and odor proof) barriers.

What I had entered was a women’s bathroom. A young lady stood primping at the mirror, but quickened her pace as I slipped into the first stall. “My Lord,” I thought. “You can see through the door slot and underneath and, you can, hear everything… I’m in a women’s restroom legally.”

The young lady had disappeared, naturally. I looked around. Sanitary napkin dispenser. No urinals. Three stalls. A women’s restroom. A boring version of one. But a man image on the door alongside the woman.

THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES

Suddenly, I realized what had happened to Presidente Smarty Pants at MSU. He was like the Emperor in the childhood fairy tale. You remember, the portly dude who got duped into paying some tricksters top dollar for the finest clothes.The con-artists told everyone that only ill-bred fools couldn’t see the cloth the clothes were made of, and that astute, intelligent, tolerant, liberal, free-thinking Trump-bashing Americans could see the clothes were indeed made of the finest quality.

You know how this fairy tale goes. The Emperor in nothing but his man bra and pantaloons parades through town with everyone “oohing” and “ahhing” (nobody saw any clothes, but feared being cast an intolerant fool, or worse, a Conservative Republican) so they pretended all was politically correct until this honest kid comes up.

Gotta love kids!

“Looky, looky, the big fat man is walking around in his underwear!”

FEELING SORRY FOR YOU EDUCATED ELITISTS

As I left the restroom and inspected the identical one across the hallway, equally labeled and equally disappointing to women, I felt sorry for the liberated folks who feel threatened that they can’t cross a politically incorrect bridge for fear of being beat down and scoffed at as being “TransPhopic”…(Just put the word “phobic” on anything now if you disagree with someone, and it works; they cave in like a soggy taco shell!)

The entire experience on the fourth floor public restrooms at Plaster Student Union made me feel like I was peeping in on the ladies. It’s not fair for the women who have to endure creepers like me.I can imagine how uncomfortable they feel now that men have invaded their domain. They’re waiting for a 4-year-old boy to yell, “Hey, this is a girls’ bathroom!”

So, get a grip, Emperor Smart… put your clothes back on, the parade’s still going. Get your bathrooms lined up with the right chromosomes. Ditch the social backfire and go back to boys and girls potty breaks.

If you’re confused, ask any 4-year-old.

BIASED LIBERAL MEDIA VERSION OF THIS STORY

“On Nov. 18, large signs placed near the restroom entrances stated the change will “allow anyone, at any time, to use either restroom.”

The sign read: “The Plaster Student Union appreciates everyone’s understanding , as it reaffirms its commitment to diversity and inclusion of all students and patrons who used this facility.”

Restrooms on other floors will remain “assigned gender.”

MSU President Clif Smart said this step is part of the university’s ongoing effort to make students, staff, faculty and patrons feel welcome while visiting the campus.

“This is not a major change,” he said. “We have always had 30-50 gender-neutral bathrooms all across campus. Sometimes they have been referred to as family bathrooms.”

The MSU website includes a map showing the types of restrooms available in many of the high traffic buildings including “gendered,” “gender-neutral” and “special circumstance.” Other details include single or multi-stall options and whether or not the restroom can be locked.

Smart said the single-stall “family” bathrooms have long provided an option for nontraditional students who need to change a diaper, seek privacy to breastfeed or want to take a child, of a different gender, to the restroom.

“We wanted to make sure there are options,” he said. “Having multiple bathrooms where both sexes have access is a positive.”

Dean of Students Thomas Lane, associate vice president for student life, works on the fourth floor of the union and there are restrooms right outside his office.

He said it made sense to designate the restrooms in the union, since it was a high traffic area for students and others visiting campus.”

Back to PAST DUE RANT Point of View:

My point in bringing this up is to get MSU to reinstate gender assigned restrooms so the women don’t feel uncomfortable having men in their private space. But I’m just one man vs. the rest of the world!

Your thoughts and comments welcome!

John Cockroft is a former news editor and self-appointed authority on life. He lives in Missouri with his lovely wife and enjoys spending time with his amazing sons. He has authored six books, co-authored two more, and plans to travel to Saturn in a rental car when the rates go low enough. http://www.JohnCockroft.com and TwentyFourSevenMarriage on YouTube for more details about him.

Stand up for women

If you believe women deserve privacy in the public restroom, deserve to be in a happy marriage, etc. you are not alone. Don't fall fodder to the "phobia" phobia being propagated out there... liberal, conservative, black, white, green, gay, straight, trans, Martian, Luliputian, whatever you are... be counted... reply and comment on this blog! Let's hear from you! Follow and share! Go for it!